The Assignment
by RedHal
Summary: The sequel to "The New Class" but not part of the challenge.  The Ghost 101 class is given an assignment.  Danny decides to hint about Plasmius' origin, but accidentally also hints about Phantom's as well.  Is his secret safe?
1. The Assignment

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom

Summary: The Sequel to The New Class. As this is not part of the challenge, I can do my own twists. During the Ghost 101 class, the students are asked to do a report on ectoplasm. Danny decides to hint a bit about Vlad, but ends up not only hinting about his arch foe, but hints about himself.

_**The Assignment**_

**Chapter 1: The Assignment**

It was a warm Friday afternoon and Samantha Manson, Daniel Fenton, and Tucker Foley were at the Nasty Burger

"I cannot believe this assignment" Sam Manson said "'Write a report on ectoplasm and the effects it can have in the real world' Doesn't your Mom know that your Dad forgot to cover that?"

"Well…it wasn't so much as FORGOT to cover rather than he wasn't aware that he wasn't covering it" Danny Fenton admitted

"Danny? Did you overshadow your Dad again?" Sam asked

"I didn't want to risk anyone getting any hints" Danny defended "All it takes is for SOMEONE to remember the lab accident. Mom and Dad know that Phantom got the way he is because of ectoplasmic radiation."

"Well, maybe you can use this to your advantage" Tucker said, mouth full of his hamburger

"How?" Danny asked

"Look. What all do your parents know of the Accident?"

"That I was shocked by the portal" Danny answered. "You know that"

"You're the one who told them" Sam said

_Flashback_

_Sam and Tucker couldn't believe it. They had witnessed the death of their best friend as his ghost paced while panicking as he rambled on about how his parents would probably react._

"_Danny!" Sam said grabbing the ghost boy's shoulder. "Relax" _

"_RELAX! Sam. I'm a GHOST! My parents are ghost HUNTERS!"_

"_We won't let them get to you" Sam promised._

_Danny looked at Sam and then at Tucker. Seeing Tucker nod in agreement, Danny relaxed._

_Then, a white light formed around his torso and split into two rings that traveled up and down his body transforming him into the Danny Fenton he was before he put on the hazmat suit._

"_What just happened?" Tucker asked as Danny looked himself over_

_Sam placed two fingers on Danny's neck._

"_You have a pulse" she said. "Danny! You're NOT dead!" _

"_Thank goodness" Danny sighed _

"_Kids?" Maddie's voice came as she and Jack came into the lab_

_The trio turned and saw the highly confused ghost hunters._

"_Hey!" Jack exclaimed. "The portal's working!" _

"_Danny?" Maddie asked. "Did you and your friends fix the portal?"_

"_Not much to fix." Danny admitted with a nervous laugh_

"_Worst it did was give him a BIT of a shock" Tucker said_

"_Well, no more messing around our equipment without an adult supervisor" Maddie said hugging her son_

"_Don't worry" Danny said_

End Flashback

"I see what you mean" Danny told Tucker. "They could have taken 'shock' as it surprised us. AND…I can hint about Plasmius and basically tell them the story of Vlad's accident, but not use any names so that Plasmius can't TECHNICALLY blame me because for all Mr. Mayor knows, I could have been talking about my OWN accident"


	2. Suspicions

**Chapter 2: Suspicions**

Monday night

Jack and Maddie Fenton were up in the Op center. Maddie was grading the essays while Jack was working on the lesson plan. Before she had started grading, Maddie had covered the names so that she couldn't play favorites.

"Jack?" she asked "What do you make of this entry?"

"What does it say?" Jack answered

She handed the paper to her husband.

"'Ectoplasm in the real world'" Jack read outloud "'The effects of the ghostly substance can have different affects determining on how it's used. For example, if the ectoplasm came directly from a ghost, then it allows the ghost to have direct control of the thing it's touching with the exception of humans. For example, Technus uses an electricity-like ectoplasm to gain control of technology. However, pure ectoplasm has a different affect. Most of the time, it just causes a huge mess and if given a strong enough jolt, it can create a Level A ghost.' Sounds like a pretty good paper"

"Keep reading"

"'If pure ectoplasm is mixed with enough electricity while in direct contact with a human, such as someone sticking his head inside an activating ghost portal, then the ectoplasm can get fused to the person's DNA creating a human/ghost hybrid and might cause a rare, yet contagious condition known as ecto-acne….' Who wrote this?"

Jack uncovered the name and looked confused.

"Who?" Maddie asked having not read the name

"Danny" Jack told her "Since when does Danny know so much about ecto-acne"

Maddie looked over the next paper

"This person mentions ectoplasm creating hybrids too" she said after skimming the paper and then checked the name. "This is Tucker's"

Jack dug through the pile of papers and found Sam's.

"Sam mentions hybrids too" Jack said. "Well, they COULD have gotten the information from Phantom"

"Maybe" Maddie said half-heartedly as her suspicion grew

What were Danny, Sam, and Tucker trying to hint at?

0000

Later that night after Jack had gone on to bed,

Maddie was back up in the Op center looking over the three worrisome papers.

The sticking the head in a ghost portal causing ecto-acne was obviously a direct reference to the lab accident 21 years ago where Vlad Masters' life took that turn. It was no shock that Sam and Tucker knew of it because Danny probably told them after the College Reunion.

But the human/ghost hybrid?

Come to think of it, she had met Plasmius at the College Reunion. And Vlad hadn't been present when Plasmius was.

And the two DID bear a remarkable resemblance to each other.

And also, the fact that Vlad got so rich so fast was pretty suspicious. And if Plasmius had the same powers as Phantom, then it would be possible for him to duplicate himself and then turn one of him into Masters thus allowing for the two to be in the same spot.

Not to mention the fact that they had the same first name, but then again so did the two Danny's…who ALSO looked like each other

Then, Maddie recalled her son's ghost project

Flashback from the film

_Whoa!" Dash exclaimed "Plasmius must be rich" _

_"He is. He uses his powers to gain money illegally making it LOOK legal" Phantom told the jock_

_"So he's a bad ghost" Kwan said writing down on a note pad as Danny filmed the lab_

_"We figured THAT out when Phantom said that Plasmius was his arch foe" Dash reminded his best friend_

_"What does Plasmius have against you?" Danny asked his duplicate_

_"I refuse to call him 'Dad'" _

_"He's your FATHER?" Dash and Kwan exclaimed _

_"No, but he wants my real Dad dead and to marry my Mom." Phantom told him. "I guess he saw my potential and wants to twist me to become like him. Well…and you can quote me on this…Vlad Plasmius is one CRAZED Froot-Loop who…"_

End Flashback

Vlad Masters wanted Maddie for himself and was angry at Jack for turning on the proto-portal. And Danny was constantly calling Vlad a 'Froot Loop.' Not to mention the money issue would make sense.

"oh my goodness" Maddie whispered. "Vlad's a halfa"

As Maddie reflected on her new discovery, something hit her.

"Wait a minute. If Vlad's a halfa because of the proto-portal, then how come Phantom looks like Danny?" she asked herself

Flashback

"_Worst it did was give him a BIT of a shock" Tucker said_

End Flashback

Something told Maddie that the shock Tucker was thinking of was a different shock than Maddie THOUGHT he meant

She got up and dug through a box of old security tapes.

Sure enough, the tape of the day the portal turned on was missing


	3. Exercise

**Chapter 3: Exercise**

During the next week, Maddie kept a close watch over her son and his friends.

"Okay class" Maddie said. "Tomorrow, we're going to meet in the gym"

"Why is that Mrs. Fenton?" Valerie asked

"If we told you, it wouldn't be a surprise" Jack said with a smirk

0000

The next day,

"You're kidding me" Jazz, Sam, Tucker, Danny, and Valerie asked

The gym was now an obstacle course

"Every ghost class needs a segment on ghost hunting" Jack said.

"Now, this class is JUST to see how good you are and how much extra work you need to do." Maddie said. "Do well enough, and we'll allow you to skip this class the next two weeks"

"That means sleeping in an extra hour" Jack bribed

Team Phantom formed a huddle

"What do we do?" Jazz asked her brother.

"Jazz is right" Sam added to Danny. "on one hand, it's more sleep. On the other, we risk your parents and Valerie…not to mention the rest of the school knowing something is up."

"I'd say we risk it" Danny said "We can say that the years of bullying has upped our defenses"

"Okay" Jack said. "These are the rules. There will be a ghost we caught. If you do better than we did time wise to catch the ghost, 10 minutes, then you get the next two weeks out of class. If you go over 10, skip the ghost and use the remaining time to go through the course."

"If you pass this test," Coach Teslaff, who appeared almost out of nowhere, added. "I'll give you an A in gym"

Team Phantom smiled at each other. An easy A in gym too?

"Who wants to go first?" Jack asked holding out a Fenton Thermos

"I'll go first" Dash said walking up and taking the thermos

5 minutes later,

Team Phantom was rolling on the floor laughing as Dash was running to the locker room screaming for his Mommy.

"THAT'S RIGHT! FEAR ME! FOR I AM THE BOX GHOST!" the ghost said

"Oh. And I suppose you loosers could do better?" Paulina asked the laughing quartet

Before Maddie could defend her son, Danny grabbed a thermos and ran the course, pulling a bit of Danny Phantom out to help with the physical part of the challenge.

He then jumped on the bleachers where the Box Ghost was waiting

"BEWARE! FOR I AM THE BOX…uh oh" the ghost said before recognizing Danny

"Got that right" Danny said turning on the thermos and sucked the ghost up and then finished the course

Final time: 3 minutes.

Needless to say practically every jaw was hanging loose

Danny released the ghost and then passed the thermos to Tucker

"Good luck Man" Danny said.

"Don't need it" Tucker said

Tucker's time: 6 minutes

If the jaws could go lower, they would have.

Tucker and Danny shared a High-five as Tucker passed the thermos on to Sam who got 4 minutes and then Jazz got 5.

By the end of the class, only Sam, Tucker, Danny, Jazz, Paulina, and Valerie got the next 2 weeks off. Paulina had managed it due to cheerleading and picturing the Box Ghost as attacking Phantom.


	4. Confrontation

**Chapter 4: Confrontation**

When Danny and Jazz got home after an afternoon of ghost hunting, they were greeted by their parents who looked as if Danny and Jazz got home after curfew.

"It's only six" Danny defended knowing those looks

"What was THAT in class today?" Maddie asked

"Me wanting two weeks of sleeping in" Danny answered

"Danny. Jazz. We want answers" Jack said.

"What kind of answers?" Jazz asked

"Like, where the security footage is from the day the portal started working?" Maddie suggested. "How you two, who a year ago wanted NOTHING to do with ghost hunting, suddenly became two of the five top students in a class that's all about ghosts?"

Jazz and Danny exchanged a nervous look

"Why Danny looks like Phantom's inverse in his lab suit?" Jack added "And why was the ghost scared of him?"

"What are you getting at?" Jazz asked

"We know what's going on" Maddie said crossing her arms

"You do?" they asked

"You two have been helping Danny Phantom ever since he came into being including when he was Public!" Jack accused

"It's a lie! Danny's/I'm not a ghost!" the siblings chorused before realizing what there father has said

"A ghost?" the parents chorused

"Did we say ghost?" Jazz laughed innocently "We meant…um…"

"Danny?" Maddie asked as she put her hands on her son's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "Are you a halfa?"

Danny's voice was caught in his throat knowing that when his mother did this, there was no way he could get away with a lie

"How?" Maddie asked realizing that no answer was an affirmative answer.

"And why didn't you tell us?" Jack asked

"I can answer that" Jazz said before mimicking her parents. "'Hey Maddie. Let's destroy the ghost' 'No Jack. Let's discect the ghost' 'I know! We'll take the ghost and rip it apart molecule by molecule'"

"Danny. We would never do that to you" Maddie informed her son making him make eyecontact. "You're our son and we love you"

"Whether you're a ghost, human, or something in between" Jack added his two-cent worth

Maddie hugged her son who returned it relieved that his parents were taking this better than he thought they would

"So how did it happen?" Maddie asked

"Remember after the portal turned on and Tucker said that I received a shock?" Danny asked

"He meant the electrical kind, didn't he" Maddie said whacking her forehead "I suspected when I read those papers, but I didn't want to listen to that suspicion"

"Say Danny?" Jack asked. "Two questions"

"Yes Dad?" Danny asked

"One: think Phantom could talk to the class one day these next two weeks?" Jack asked

"I think I can handle it" Danny mused knowing that Sam would be all for it as Paulina had passed the test. "What's the second?"

"How would you like to be my sidekick?" Jack asked

"Why am I the sidekick? I'm the one with the powers?" Danny asked

"Because you're still a minor" Jack answered

"Be less pressure on you" Jazz added to her brother

"In that case, sure" Danny said "I'm just going to need to let Sam and Tucker know."

"Go on and call them, but no ghost hunting tonight" Maddie said. "The four of us are going to talk about your sneaking around ghost hunting behind our backs"

"Yes Mom" Danny said figuring that Valerie could handle it

Danny ran up to his room and dialed a few numbers to get a 3-way call going

(Key: _Sam,_** Tucker**, Danny)

"_Hey Danny. When are we going to meet up tonight?"_

"We're not going tonight" Danny told his friends

"**Why not?" **

"Because Mom and Dad found out about the Fenton/Phantom thing"

"_**WHAT?"**_

"**Dude? Do you need us to come over?"**

"No. Mom and Dad took it better than I thought, but I think Mom's been suspecting it since the assignment where I hinted about Vlad. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow."

"_Besides Tucker, Jazz can help."_

"You're defending my sister?"

"_She's gotten better and frankly, she's the only one who can help you at the moment_"

"**Did your parents say what they're planning on doing to you?"**

"_TUCKER!" _

"Seems like they only want to talk. After all, Dad DID ask if Phantom can talk to the class at some point during the next two weeks"

"_You should do it!" _Sam said excitedly

"You only want me to do it because Paulina won't be there to see me" Danny accused

"_That's why we're such good friends Danny. You know me so well." _

"**Though he IS clueless about your feelings for a certain someone"**

Normally, Danny would have been confused, but the fact he could HEAR the glare over the phone (not to mention the growl) forced him to concentrate more on trying not to laugh

"Anyways" Danny said deciding to change the subject. "I just called to let you guys know that we're not going on patrol tonight"

"_**Good Luck"**_


	5. Results

**Chapter 5: Results**

A couple of days later,

Sam and Tucker were at the Nasty Burger waiting on word about Danny. They were worried as, according to the rest of the class, Ghost 101 was being taught by Teslaff as the Fentons were out.

"Hey guys. You look worried."

The two turned to the familiar voice and smiled

"Danny!" Sam exclaimed before throwing her arms around him. Then she released him as quickly as she grabbed him much to Tucker's amusement

"What happened?" Tucker asked as Danny took his seat on the booth across from Tucker

"Well, as I said that night, all Mom and Dad wanted to do was talk. They also wanted a few demonstration like the whole 'Going Ghost'"

"So where have you four been these past few days? Jazz wasn't in school either" Sam asked

"Well, this whole 'it took Mom and Dad a year and a half to learn that I was Phantom' threw them quite a loop. Jazz was scheduled for a college tour at the University of Wisconsin because of their paranormal program and Mom decided to make it a family trip." 

"And why couldn't we get a hold of you?" Tucker asked

"They took away the cell phones to make the family trip more 'family oriented'" Danny explained "But Dad wants me to be his sidekick now since I'm still a minor"

"Are you going to?" Tucker asked

"I think so" Danny said. "At least until I can convince him otherwise."

"Well, I'm just glad everything worked out" Sam said

"Me too. And it's not so tense at my house anymore now that ALL the secrets are out"

"Why the emphasis on 'all'?" Tucker asked

"Dad now knows about Vlad" Danny said

"How?" Sam and Tucker asked

"Because Vlad decided to crash the college tour in ghost form. You should have seen his face when I transformed right in front of Mom and Dad!" Danny laughed. "But then Dad remembered the project about how I said that Plasmius wanted him dead so he could marry Mom. Dad was not happy and gave Vlad quite the thrashing. Then just when Vlad got the upper hand, I used my wail and he transformed. Dad was NOT happy, but we bought Dad some fudge afterwards and he cooled down. We're just not allowed to say Vlad's name at home."

"But he's the mayor" Tucker reminded his friend

"He should be abdicating any day now unless he wants the GIW to raid City Hall and the mayor's mansion" Danny said

"That's cruel. But as we're dealing with Vlad, good job" Sam said

"Mom's words. Not mine" Danny said. "And don't get me started about Skulker's appearance"

"What happened?" Tucker asked like a kid at Christmas

"You know how protective Mom and Dad get about me?" Danny asked. "Mix that with a ghost who wants my pelt hanging on his wall."

"That could NOT have been pretty" Sam said

"I think it's going to take Skulker until our senior year to get his suit patched back together" Danny said

"Well, I'm just glad things worked out" Sam said

"Me too." Tucker said

"Same here. No more secrets" Danny said sighing with relief. "At least…in my house"

Suddenly, Danny's ghost sense went off and the power went off

The trio ran outside and saw, as the wind whipped through their hair, a familiar ghost absorbing electricity through powerlines

"YES! THAT'S IT! MORE POWER! FOR IT IS I, TECHNUS, MASTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY!"

Looking around, Danny ducked behind a dumpster and transformed completely unaware he wasn't the only one with the idea.

"THAT'S IT!" Technus shouted. "MORE POWER FOR ME, TECHNUS, MASTER OF…"

"LONG-WINDED INTRODUCTIONS!" Danny shouted as he flew up to the ghost

"SO, GHOST CHILD…WE MEET AGAIN!" Technus said

"You really should COOL it!" Danny bantered before using his ice powers to freeze the ghost. Then, coating his fist with ectoplasm, he hit the ghost breaking the ice and knocking Technus on his back.

"Danny! Catch!" Tucker said throwing the thermos

Danny caught it and then sucked the ghost into the thermos.

He then turned to see the damage. Everyone who saw was cheering, all the damage had been done before his arrival, with the exception of the ice shards, and Valerie was looking like a goldfish over by the dumpster.

It hit Danny like an anvil

Valerie had seen his transformation.

Before Danny could act though, Valerie ran.

0000

Later that evening,

Valerie was sitting on her bed thinking about how she had been blinded by both hatred and puppy-love to have missed what had been right in front of her.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Go away" Valerie said to who was no doubt her father.

However the door opened and the last person Valerie wanted to see stood in her doorway.

"What do you want?" Valerie asked

"To talk" Danny said. "Something I've been trying to do since Day 1. Maybe now that you know that Fenton and Phantom are one in the same, you'll listen. After all…ever since the Pariah Dark Incident, you've listened to Fenton"

"How did this happen?" Valerie asked clearly stumped

"A year and a half ago, back when you were popular, I was involved in a lab accident. The ectoplasm fused with my DNA turning me into a halfa"

"Well, this explains how you're so good in Ghost 101 and why the Box Ghost gave you little trouble" Valerie said "But how can you keep something like this from me? Especially during that time when we were almost together"

"The same reason why I never told my parents and had them figure it out for themselves." Danny said. "Where you liked Danny FENTON, you were out to destroy Danny PHANTOM. I've tried to get you to listen to reason many times in Phantom form, but, you were also 'shoot first, ask questions never.' I had planned to tell you before you got that upgrade, but Technus overpowered your suit and gave you cause to hate me more even though I knew you weren't in the suit I destroyed"

"You knew?" Valerie asked

"Yeah. That's why I went all out. But then, ironically, you dumped me to protect me from myself"

"That is ironic when you put it like that" Valerie smirked a bit.

"Tucker still gets a laugh" Danny said. "Look. Even though I'm over you now, I hope we can still be friends and maybe even allies. Mom and Dad now know and Dad's asked me to be his side-kick. I'm also trying to talk to the Axicon President so we could do something about your Dad's job"

"You really didn't mean to make my life miserable" Valerie realized

"Of course not" Danny said. "I was still new to the whole 'ghost power' thing and had a few control issues."

"I'll tell you what" Valerie said. "You help me do better in Ghost 101, and consider us allies"

"You're already one of the top students, but sure" Danny said

The two shook on it knowing that each had just gained a very valuable ally.

The End

A/N: There will be no sequel so don't ask


End file.
